Disclosed in EP2078630A1 is an example of a known roof apparatus. Generally, the roof apparatus including the open roof construction for the vehicle disclosed in EP2078630A1 includes a guide rail, which is fixed on a roof panel of a vehicle and extends in a front-rear direction of the vehicle, and a drive shoe, which is provided on the guide rail while allowing the drive shoe to be movable on the guide rail in the front-rear direction. In a case where the drive shoe is moved in the front-rear direction via a belt, which is driven by a motor, a movable panel is operated to open and close an opening of the roof panel via a link mechanism.
According to EP2078630A1, a weather strip is provided at an opening edge portion of the roof panel extending in the front-rear direction in order to seal a clearance formed between an edge portion of a panel and the opening edge portion of the roof panel. Furthermore, according to EP2078630A1, a guiding slide is provided on the guide rail at a position below the edge portion of the panel. A lever (a front lever) is provided outwardly of the guide slide in a vehicle width direction. The lever is connected to a front portion of a panel bracket, which supports the panel, and is engaged with the guiding slide. Accordingly, in the case where the guiding slide is moved in the front-rear direction, the lever is displaced in accordance with the movement of the guiding slide, thereby operating the panel to be opened and closed via the panel bracket. A guide member (a supporting portion) of the lever and a supporting wall portion of the guide rail supporting the guide member are located below the weather strip. Furthermore, the roof apparatus disclosed in EP2078630A1 is configured so that the lever is upwardly displaced as the guide member of the lever and the supporting wall portion of the guide rail are positioned upwardly in a vertical direction in order to displace the panel upwardly. In other words, the guide member and the supporting wall portion restrict the displacement of the lever in the vertically upward direction.
According to the roof apparatus disclosed in EP2078630A1, the roof panel includes a panel main body defining an upper surface of a vehicle body and a flange portion curved from an inner end portion of the panel main body in the vehicle width direction and downwardly extending. Additionally, the weather strip includes an attachment portion, at which the weather strip is attached on a side surface of an inner side surface of the flange portion in the vehicle width direction by means of a double-sided adhesive tape, and a hollow shape seal portion, which is formed to inwardly protrude from the attachment portion in the vehicle width direction.
According to the roof apparatus disclosed in EP2078630A1, the weather strip is located above the guide member of the lever. Furthermore, because the weather strip is attached on the flange portion of the roof panel by means of the double-sided adhesive tape, the weather strip is formed so as to have a smaller attachment cross-sectional surface in order to avoid interference between the weather strip and the lever. However, the roof apparatus disclosed in EP2078630A may complicate an attachment process of the weather strip.
A need thus exists for a roof apparatus which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.